Category Archives: Policing
Police and Crime Commissioners are one of the great reforms of this Conservative-led government
It is ten years since I joined the Conservative Party Policy Unit and helped develop our policy for direct election of those who oversee our police. It was therefore a particular pleasure for me to spend Saturday at the Conservative … Continue reading
Why we need a Police-led Border Force
Our Home Affairs Committee report today on the UK Border Agency (UKBA) insists that ministers are right to take direct control. The Home Secretary has put Brian Moore, a Chief Constable, in charge of the Border Force and I look … Continue reading
Winsor will mean more cops on the beat
Police forces have hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of keen qualified applicants queuing to join up, many already working successfully as PCSOs or special constables. The Winsor reforms announced yesterday should be welcomed, first and foremost because they will … Continue reading
Filed under ACPO, bbc, conservatives, keith vaz, mark reckless, nick herbert, police, Policing, rochester and strood, winsor report
Police WILL be under democratic control
For over forty years the police have too often evaded democratic oversight of their operations by pointing to a 1968 judgment by Lord Denning (R v Metropolitan Police Commissioner, ex parte Blackburn [1968] 1 All ER 763) On Monday the … Continue reading
Restoring British Freedoms
The police must be supported in their vital work upholding the rule of law. However this does not mean that we should compromise our freedoms which ultimately the rule of law is there to achieve. After a mere eighteen months … Continue reading
Filed under ACPO, labour, mark reckless, medway, medway council, Metropolitan Police, police, Policing, rochester and strood
EU Referendum now ‘When, Not If’
We are told that the Foreign Office Sir Humphrey has asked each government department to report on opportunities (and inevitably for the FO ‘risks’) to repatriate powers from the EU. The fact that every department is involved shows how far … Continue reading
Filed under ACPO, bbc, conservatives, david cameron, europe, lib dems, mark reckless, People's Pledge, police, Policing, rochester and strood, sir hugh orde
Mark Reckless welcomes the introduction of directly-elected Commissioners to help fight crime in Rochester and Strood
Mark Reckless MP for Rochester and Strood welcomes the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act which received Royal Assent on 15 September 2011. The Act will introduce directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioners which will make police forces truly accountable to their communities by: … Continue reading
Conservatives and LibDems v Sir Humphrey
Last night I went on Newsnight to discuss tensions in the coalition. I made the point that we will not allow the LibDems to block the historic opportunity which the Euro zone crisis gives us to take powers back from … Continue reading
